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By Tom Bishop
Technical Support Specialist
Electrical Apparatus Service Association
St. Louis, MO
Figure 1: fluting
Introduction
This paper addresses key issues related to shaft
and bearing currents in electric motors and generators.
Critical topics that will be covered include recognizing symptoms of shaft and bearing currents, and determining if damaging current levels are present. Also,
possible causes of the damaging current, such as machine dissymmetry and operation on variable frequency
drives (VFDs) will be dealt with. Methods of testing to
confirm the presence of shaft or bearing currents will be
described, as well as how to assess the magnitude of
the damaging currents. Further, solutions to eliminate
or control shaft and bearing currents, such as insulators, isolators, and ceramic bearings, will be offered.
While shaft and bearing currents are not a new problem (papers on the subject date back prior to 1930),
what is new is the increased understanding of how to
identify and solve the problem. Shaft and bearing currents have been described as shaft voltages, circulating voltages, circulating currents and bearing currents.
Shaft voltage only becomes a problem when it leads to
bearing current and consequential damage to the motor
bearings. If this voltage, referred to as common mode
voltage or shaft voltage, builds up to a sufficient level, it can discharge to ground through the lubricant film
on the bearings. Current that finds its way to ground
through the motor bearings in this manner is called
bearing current.
This paper will primarily refer to the damage phenomenon from shaft or bearing currents as bearing
current(s) because it is the current through the bearings
(not the shaft) that causes the damage. In cases where
the distinction between shaft and bearing currents need
to be made, the specific term shaft current(s) or bearing
current(s) will be used.
Figure 2: frosting
Current damage
The appearance of damaged surfaces is related to
three major types of current. The first type of electric
current damage is electric pitting (Figure 4). It is mostly
Figure 4: pitting
and races. Crater sizes are small, mostly from 0.00020.0003 (5 - 8 m) in diameter, regardless of whether
the crater is on an inner ring, outer ring or a rolling element. The true shape of these craters can only be seen
under a microscope using very high magnification.
Other symptoms
If a bearing is noisy it is important to remove it from
service and dismantle and inspect it prior to complete
bearing failure. If the bearing has been destroyed by
failure, the evidence of bearing current will also be destroyed and the root cause of the failure will not be determined.
Visual indications of shaft voltages include fluting
or a picket-fence pattern on the races of the bearing
(Figure 6). The spacing of the fluting marks depends
on the speed (rpm), bearing diameter, radial load and
magnitude of the bearing current. The balls or rollers
Ball bearing
Outer race
Shaft
Rotor
Faraday
Shield
Rotor to
winding
Windings
Rotor to
ground
Stator
VFD in
Capacitive coupling between the stator and the rotor supplied from the VFD.
bearing currents.
This common mode voltage oscillates at high frequency and is capacitively coupled to the rotor (Figure 8).
The result is pulses as high as 25 volts from shaft to
ground, with the current path being through either or
both bearings to ground. If a motor is supplied from a
VFD, a good practice would be to check the frame to
shaft voltage and determine if damaging bearing current may be present.
Bearing current
If the shaft voltage caused by a VFD is large enough,
current can flow through the shaft and both bearings
(Figure 9) and, in some cases, through the shaft and
bearings of the load machine. This circulating current
may damage the bearings if the magnitude exceeds 320 A, depending on the size of the bearings, the rate
of rise of the voltage at the motor terminals and the inverter DC bus voltage level.
Residual magnetism
Bearing currents can result if a shaft has residual magnetism. Residual magnetic field levels are best measured with the machinery not operating. A gaussmeter
can be used in the DC mode to measure the residual
magnetic field level of a shaft. Magnetic field strength
can change if the motor is disassembled because of
the alteration in the flux paths. For example, when a
coupling is removed, the adjacent shaft magnetic field
level may increase or decrease. Therefore it is best not
to disturb any shaft components so that the measured
magnetic field levels are representative of the actual
operating conditions.
The following table is based on test results compiled
by one investigator from more than 200 machines over
a 15 year period.
Bearing is electrically
Maximum allowable residual
magnetic
field levels
isolated
to interrupt
flow (measured in free air)
of current.
2 gauss
4 gauss
Bearing housings.
6 gauss
Electrically
isolating one bearing can be done by
current
insulating
the
the bracket
at the
frame, or
There arehousing
three or
main
sources
of circulating
currents
by use of special factory-insulated bearings. When
that may pass through the shaft and consequently the
this method is used, the flow of current through both
bearings.
One No
source
is means
magnetic
dissymmetry, anothbearings
is halted.
current
no damage.
Magnetic dissymmetry
Magnetic dissymmetry is due to any differences in the
magnetic circuit between stator and rotor. It is often associated with larger motors that have segmented laminations and are supplied from sinusoidal (as opposed
to VFD) power sources. The resulting asymmetric flux
in the motor results in a low frequency circulating current through the bearings.
Although dissymmetry in the core laminations is not
the only source of magnetic dissymmetry, it is the predominant cause. Other causes of magnetic dissymmetry include an uneven air gap between stator and rotor,
and damage to the stator core laminations such as from
a winding ground fault.
Magnetic dissymmetry is also common in DC machines, where the individual field poles and interpoles
are likely to have variations in individual air gap. An informal study found shaft currents in most DC machines
larger than 10 hp (7.5 kW.)
In any motor, including those with one piece rather
than segmented laminations, the magnetic core steel is
not completely uniform in composition. Because of this,
flux paths through the core are not completely symmetrical, resulting in time-varying flux lines that enclose the
shaft. These induce a current flow through the shaft,
through a bearing, through the frame, and back to the
shaft through the other bearing (Figure 9).
Slight differences in the spaces between the pieces
of segmented lamination cores (Figure 10), and how
they stack layer by layer, lead to a lack of symmetry
in the stator core. To visualize this, think of one layer
of the core laminations as a circle made of many piec-
Electrostatic discharges
The second major cause of damaging bearing current
is somewhat surprising, namely, static electricity. We
dont usually consider static electricity as a source of
harmful currents. However, damaging levels of bearing
current caused by electrostatic discharges (Figure 11)
can occur in applications such as belt drives, paper roll
winders and fans or blowers. The larger the machine is
(e.g., wind generators, some with 330 ft. (100 meter)
blades), the greater the potential bearing current.
Figure 11: dull finish
Capacitive coupling
Capacitive coupling between stator and rotor often
occurs when the motor is supplied from a VFD. Voltage
associated with the extremely fast switching of insulat-
Vibration analysis
Vibration analysis can be used to determine if bearings have fluting damage, which may have been caused
by discharge currents. A high resolution spectrum of the
2-4kHz range (Figure 14) can indicate an abnormally
high band of energy, that is, a hill-like shape as the
amplitude gradually increases to a rounded peak and
then decreases. As the fault condition progresses over
time, vibration levels at the bearing fault frequencies will
become apparent. Some vibration analyzers have the
ability to measure spike energy or gs of acceleration;
each is a means of quantifying impact energy to diagnose impending bearing failure.
Shaft current
An old-timers method of checking for damaging levels of bearing current was to use a welding cable and
touch each end of it to each end of the motor shaft while
in operation. If a spark was generated when the second end of the cable was applied to or removed from
the shaft it was assumed that damaging bearing current
was present. A modern variation of that test is to apply
the welding cable as a shorting bridge from shaft end to
shaft end and to measure the current through the cable.
A current in excess of 20 A is considered an indicator
that damaging levels of bearing current are present.
Lubricant analysis
Lubricant analysis utilizes a testing laboratory to analyze the bearing lubricant. Grease sampling is often
impractical as there is usually no direct means of obtaining a fresh sample unless the motor is partially disassembled. Grease that is extracted from the relief port
is unreliable as the length of time since it last lubricated
the bearing cannot be determined.
Oil used to lubricate bearings is normally available
for sampling by simply accessing the oil ring area of
a sleeve bearing machine, or draining some oil from
a reservoir of an idle oil-lubricated motor, either rolling
element bearing or sleeve bearing. It is not advisable
to attempt to draw a sample on an operating motor because of the risk of a rapid loss of oil.
If the lubricant analysis indicates the presence of metals from the bearings, electrical discharge machining
(EDM) associated with bearing current discharges are
a possible cause. There is however, no means of distin-
Magnetic dissymmetry
Magnetic dissymmetry can result in a circulating current from the frame through a bearing, along the shaft,
through the other bearing and back to the frame. The
circulating current in this case can be eliminated by interrupting the circuit, usually by insulating the opposite
drive end bearing (Figure 17).
Bearing current due to dissymmetry can be reduced,
but not eliminated, by installing a shaft grounding brush.
That is, if the motor can be modified to accept such an
installation; and if it is economically viable. The brush
circuit from frame to shaft provides a low resistance parallel (bypass) circuit (Figure 9) to divert current from the
much higher resistance bearing circuit. The lower the
resistance of the brush circuit compared to the resistance through the bearing, the more current is diverted
from the bearing. To be most effective, the brush should
be located inboard of the bearing, that is, between the
bearings. If it is located outboard of a bearing it will be
outside of the circulating current loop of the motor.
Note that the brush resistance is critical to this solution. The special grounding brushes supplied for this
purpose are extremely low in resistance (Figure 18).
Conventional carbon brushes lack the required low
resistance, and so brush manufacturers use brushes
that are impregnated with silver. Another type of shaft
grounding brush is more like a brush in that it has bristles that contact the shaft surface (Figure 16). Manufacturers of this type of grounding brush usually use silver
or gold impregnation in the bristles, for low resistance
and to maintain a low resistance film on the shaft.
If the brush path diverting current from the bearing
increases in resistance, such as due to contamination
or a change in the film, more potentially damaging cur-
guishing between particles from the passage of electrical current and particles of mechanical wear origin.
Microscopic analysis
Microscopic analysis can be performed by a testing
laboratory with that capability, often a bearing manufacturer. If you procure a shop-type microscope you may
be able to perform your own analysis. The shop-type
microscope can be placed directly on the bearing to
magnify the area to be assessed. Electrical current will
usually result in molten particles. Damage of mechanical origin often appears as smearing marks with evidence of heating due to mechanical friction.
Solutions to eliminate or control shaft
and bearing currents
The first step in addressing solutions to shaft and
bearing current issues is to determine the type of source
that is the probable cause. We have previously identified these sources, and it is worth repeating them, to
make clear what they are and then proceed to address
eliminating or controlling them.
There are three main sources of circulating currents
that may pass through the shaft and consequently the
bearings. One source is magnetic dissymmetry, another is electrostatic discharges, and the third is capacitive
coupling between the stator windings and rotor. Any of
these sources may be present independently or simultaneously, and thus result in bearing currents.
h installed
l circuit.
parallel
bearing.
e parallel
. Current
Electrically
isolating
bearingdissymmetry
can be done by
Circulating
current
due toone
magnetic
can be
insulating
the housing
orbearing.
the bracket at the frame, or
eliminated
by insulating
one
by use of special factory-insulated bearings. When
this method is used, the flow of current through both
bearings is halted. No current means no damage.
rent will flow through the bearing. The part of the brush
circuit most at risk for increased resistance is the brush
to shaft contact surface. As the shaft surface becomes
dirty or corroded the resistance of the film formed in
the brush path increases. And higher resistance in the
brush circuit results in less current through it, and correspondingly higher current through the bearing.
To most effectively protect both motor bearings a
Grounding
brush installed
grounding brush should be placed
on the inboard
side
to create
parallel circuit.
of each bearing. Therefore, two brush
installations
are
needed. However, if there is a possibility of circulating
current between the motor and the driven equipment,
and only one brush is used, it should be on the drive
end.
Bearing is electrically
isolated to interrupt flow
of current.
Electrostatic discharges
The second major cause of damaging bearing current
is static electricity. Damaging levels of bearing current
caused by electrostatic discharges can occur in applications such as belt drives, paper roll winders and fans or
blowers. The
solutions
mentioned
magThe addition
of a previously
grounding brush
creates afor
parallel
netic dissymmetry
can
be
used
to
address
electrostatic
circuit, sharing the current flow through the bearing.
discharges.
some
applications,
such
asofrolls
of proTheIn
flow
of current
through each
path
the parallel
cess product
that
develop
electricity,
a grounded
circuit
depends
uponstatic
the relative
resistance.
Current
on the
drive end
remainsthe
unchanged.
garland-like
material
contacts
roll to bleed off the
static electricity.
isolating to
one
bearingbearing
can be done
by
Both Electrically
bearings insulated
prevent
current.
insulating the housing or the bracket at the frame, or
by use of special factory-insulated bearings. When
shaft grounding brushes for both bearings. The bearthis method is used, the flow of current through both
ings can
be insulated
bycurrent
a number
different
bearings
is halted. No
meansofno
damage.methods
including, insulated housings, insulated bearing journals, insulated bearing outer race, insulated bearing inner race, and ceramic rolling elements.
It is worth noting that insulating only one bearing,
such as the non-drive end is not effective as the current
still has a path through the drive end bearing. Conductive bearing greases are also available, using metallic
particles suspended in the grease to make it conductive. However there has not been strong evidence indicating that this method is effective. One laboratory
study found indications that the conductive material in
the grease accelerated mechanical wear and would
therefore shorten the life of a bearing.
Another key point to put the capacitive coupling issue in perspective is that VFDs are the source. If future
drive technology can make advances in this area it may
be possible through drive design to eliminate bearing
currents due to capacitive coupling.
Capacitive coupling
Capacitive coupling between stator and rotor
(Figure 8) can occur when the motor is supplied from a
VFD. These drives can generate a common mode voltage which raises the three phase winding neutral potential significantly above ground potential. The result is
discharges from shaft to ground, with the current path
being through either or both bearings to ground.
According to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard IEC 60034-25, Guidance for
the design and performance of a.c. motors specifically
designed for converter supply some of the physical factors and other features of a motor that can lead to shaft
voltages and consequently bearing currents include:
Large physical size or high output power of the machine tends to increase the induced shaft voltage.
The physical shape of the motor also has an effect
on the induced shaft voltage: short and fat shape is
generally better than long and thin motor design.
High pole numbers tend to reduce the induced shaft
voltage.
Low running speed and high bearing temperature
as well as high bearing load increase the bearing
current risk due to thinner lubricant film.
Insulated bearings
The key word in the term capacitive coupling is capacitive. What is desired is to have a low capacitance if
the circuit is insulated. To achieve this with an insulated
bearing it is better to insulate the inner race (journal
face) rather than the outer race (housing face) as the
inner race being of smaller diameter it is likewise smaller in area. This is an advantage of the hybrid ceramic
bearing: The capacitance is based on the small contact
area between the rolling elements and the races, and
the thickness of the insulation is equal to the diameter
10
Insulated housings
Insulating the housing (Figure 22) is frequently done
by the original manufacturer and by rebuilders as a ret-
11
Other solutions
Where it is possible, other solutions include insulated couplings (between motor and driven equipment or
accessory such as tachometer and motor), insulating
the bearings of the driven equipment, or adding shaft
brushes to the driven equipment. In belt drive applications, the belts may or may not effectively diminish the
capacitive shaft voltage of the motor.
12
Faraday shield
One other method of dealing with capacitive coupling
is to install a Faraday shield in the stator. This method
typically uses a grounded copper foil material on top
of the stator windings. It creates an electrostatic shield
that reduces the magnitude of currents caused by the
capacitive coupling between stator and rotor. The Faraday shield is of complex and fragile construction, making it impractical and uneconomical for mass-produced
motors.
bearings is not the primary application for shaft grounding brushes. They are more commonly used standalone to divert shaft current away from the bearings.
Although they can be effective in VFD applications,
insulating the bearing circuit is usually the preferred
method. That is because the shaft grounding brush, as
a bypass or parallel circuit, will always allow some current to pass through the bearings.
To be effective, shaft grounding brushes must maintain a very low resistance (actually low impedance) circuit between motor frame and shaft. The magnitude of
the shaft current in most cases does not create a very
high current density in the grounding brush. That in turn
can lead to excess film formation, with the film being of
increased resistance compared to the bare shaft surface. As the film resistance increases, the grounding
brush circuit carries less current, and the bearing more
current. The result is more rapid degradation of the
bearing due to the increased rate of electrical discharge
machining (EDM), and premature bearing failure.
Conventional carbon-silver (Figure 18) or bristle-type
(Figure 16) shaft grounding brushes also represent a
maintenance issue as they wear over time and must be
replaced, and should be inspected periodically. There
is a recent development in shaft grounding brush technology that uses an atmosphere of microscopic carbon
fibers to create a conductive path from frame to shaft.
The device is similar in appearance to a shaft lip seal,
and is known as the Aegis shaft grounding ring (Figure 24).
Grounding
The quality of the ground between motor and drive
is also a critical factor. The higher the common mode
voltage and VFD switching frequency is, the greater the
possibility of damaging bearing currents. One alternative is to reduce the switching frequency of the VFD.
In many applications the switching frequency can be
reduced without negatively affecting drive or motor performance.
A partial solution that can reduce bearing currents is
to use shielded and stranded ground cable (Figure 13)
to establish a dedicated common ground path between
motor and drive as skin effect is a factor. The higher
the frequency, the more alternating current (AC) travels on or near the surface (skin) of the conductor, so
the resistance-to-voltage flow is affected by the surface
area of the conductor. Stranded cable has more surface
area than a solid conductor, thus provides a lower resistance (impedance) path, and the shielding helps reduce
the high frequency effects.
Filters and chokes
Installing filters between the VFD and motor also helps
reduce the magnitude of bearing currents, but does not
eliminate the current. The filters modify the VFD output
waveform so as to minimize the common mode voltage.
The main drawbacks to filters are their cost and the
complexities associated with their installation. Adding
filters, or chokes (modify the current waveform), also
helps reduce transient voltages that could overstress
the motor windings and increase audible noise.
13